The business behind the show

The Morning Fix: Sarah and Oprah; Oprah and Sony! Disney sinks Captain Nemo. Chernin sees few regulatory hurldles for Comcast-NBC. Any best actresses out there?

November 17, 2009 | 7:06
am

After the coffee. Before schlepping over the hill for a panel about streaming content.

Sarah visits Oprah, doesn't jump on couch. Former vice
presidential candidate Sarah Palin went on Oprah Winfrey's talk show
Monday and shockingly informed the queen of all talk that she wasn't
aware that Winfrey was snubbing her during the election. "No offense to
you, but it wasn't the center of the universe," Palin said. More (over)analysis of the chat from the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. On
another Oprah note, Sony will be distributing Winfrey's next
offspring -- design guru Nate Berkus -- for debut in 2010, reports Broadcasting and Cable. Sony also handles "Dr. Oz" and is trying to woo the queen herself away from her current distributor at CBS.

"Captain Nemo" is sinking fast. Disney has thrown the life preservers into the ocean and is sailing away from "Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," according to Variety. The studio, which is under new management, has stopped production, and director McG also has been tossed overboard (yes, we're going to milk this one for all its worth). No cast had been hired, and with its big advocate former Disney Studios Chief Dick Cook lost at sea, the studio has decided to return to dry land.

And the Oscar for best actress goes to ... Though there will be more best-picture nominees in next year's Oscars, they might want to think about cutting back on the nominations for best actress. The Hollywood Reporter says (they said it, not us) there's a "shallow pool" of potential contenders in that category. How bad is it? "Some are talking about performances such as Sandra Bullock's in the feel-good film 'The Blind Side,' " the paper wrote.

Chernin's consulting fee. Comcast will make a donation to Peter Chernin's Malaria No More foundation as part of his deal for consulting for the cable company on its plans to make a deal to take control of NBC Universal. Chernin, speaking at USC, also said he saw few regulatory hurdles for the deal in Washington. Someone might want to mention that to all the reporters breathlessly writing about the intense scrutiny any deal will face. More from Bloomberg.

HBO's new mob. Production has begun on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire," about gang life in 1920s Atlantic City. We tell you this because only HBO could get big stories out of starting a new TV series. Color from USA Today.

AOL-TW set divorce date. The marriage that looked doomed from the start will finally end almost nine years later as AOL has set Dec. 9 as its spin-off date from Time Warner Inc. Details from Reuters. No, you don't get your wedding gift (or those options) back.

Cable castings.Variety says Kent Alterman, former New Line executive-turned-director, is likely to become Comedy Central's programming chief. Deadline reports that David Janollari, the former Warner Bros. executive, is in line to become MTV's head of West Coast development.